Category World News

Following days of persistent tremors, Santorini, Greece, experienced its strongest earthquake.

On Wednesday night, a magnitude 5. 2 earthquake, the first of its kind to hit the island since tremors started last week, struck Santorini. On Thursday, two larger tremors jolted the island, each exceeding a magnitude of 4.0.

Santorini’s last major earthquake, a magnitude 7.5 tremor in 1956, killed at least 53 people.

What we currently know is as follows:

What is happening in Santorini?

The island, one of Greece’s Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea, has been experiencing near-constant tremors since January 27, 2025, with thousands of earthquakes recorded so far.

The strongest earthquake recorded on Wednesday evening, which was felt on the evening, had a magnitude of 5.2.

The magnitude of an earthquake is determined using decimal points, which represent its increments. An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or higher is classified as severe, while a magnitude of 5.2 is considered moderate.

Santorini is located along the Cyclades islands’ extension, which starts in southern Greece and ends in the Peloponnese. The region is also home to two volcanoes: Nea Kameni, a small islet within Santorini’s caldera, and Kolumbo, an underwater volcano located approximately eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of the island.

The Santorini-Amorgos earthquake swarm just keeps going. Since its debut on January 27th, it has now produced over 1, 000 individual events. twitter.com/KQwxEj0Vbb

Where are Santorini’s earthquake epicenters located?

The earthquake epicentres are concentrated in a growing cluster between Santorini, Anafi, Amorgos and Ios islands. Between Santorini and the nearby island of Amorgos, there is still a lot of seismic activity.

The epicentres are located beneath the seabed, which is good news, according to scientists, land-based earthquakes generally cause greater destruction. Even though Greece is a seismically active nation, earthquakes are not uncommon.

What are the main concerns?

Authorities are making preparations for an even bigger earthquake because the tremors are still not abating. On Wednesday, authorities warned of landslide risks to parts of the island.

According to Vassilis K. Karastathis, a seismologist and director of research at the National Observatory of Athens, “we are not yet in a position to say that we are seeing any evidence that would lead to the sequence gradually coming to a conclusion.”

“We are still in the middle of the road, we haven’t seen any easing, any sign that it’s heading towards a regression”.

Neither major damage nor injuries have been caused by the earthquakes. According to reports, more than 11, 000 people have departed from Santorini as a result of the tremors. According to the 2021 census, Santorini, which is popular with tourists, has a permanent population of 15, 000.

Could the earthquakes cause a volcanic eruption?

Although Santorini is in close proximity to two volcanoes, experts consider an eruption unlikely. According to scientists, the earthquakes of today are unrelated to volcanic activity and don’t pose a particular risk.

Last week, Greece’s Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection reported that sensors detected “mild seismic-volcanic activity” within Santorini’s caldera. A similar event in 2011 persisted for 14 months without causing any volcanic issues, however.

“At this moment, I don’t think there is any hazard from the submarine volcano of Kolumbo and the volcanic complex … however, I should say that we cannot exclude the arrival of a second pulse of magma, and]if so] this episode will repeat”, Athanassios Ganas, research director of the National Observatory of Athens, told Al Jazeera.

The island does have a long history of volcanic activity, however. Santorini developed into its present geological form at around 1,600 BC as a result of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history.

The island experienced significant seismic activity between 2011 and 2012 as a result of magma movement beneath the surface.

Will the tremors last forever or will they get worse?

According to Ganas, “we cannot exclude the possibility of an earthquake affecting one of the neighboring faults of magnitude 6. 0.”

“Because all these seismicity transfer stresses to neighbouring faults that are long enough, about 15 kilometres,   and this fact means that they have the potential for a magnitude 6.0 earthquake”, he added.

However, Ganas emphasised this is not the most likely scenario. “This is the second one in priority. He said that the first scenario is that there is a seismic swarm in the area.

A seismic swarm is a series of brief, time-varying, hours to months-long, mostly dominant mainshocks that occur in a localized area.

How are Greek authorities responding?

On Friday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to travel to Santorini.

Santorini and Amorgos’ schools were closed until Friday, and local authorities sent rescuers to the area, and they warned people to stay away from ports and gatherings inside.

These are not easy times.

At a White House news conference on Tuesday, a grinning accused war criminal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stood close by nodding in applause as I had to listen to the president’s meanderings repeatedly throughout the writing of this column.

As a calculated charlatan made me feel some of the same emotions as you did when you predicted that America would “own” Gaza and that, for their own good, more than two million Palestinians would be expelled from their ancestral homeland in order to make room for a horde of obstinate Israeli settlers and vehement real estate moguls, including Trump’s eager son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Perhaps, like you, I became angry.

I became angry at the audacity of a&nbsp, preening braggart who knows nothing about Palestine or its history but claims to have the best interests of Palestinians at mummified heart while he intends to “clean out” Gaza and, in effect, erase them and&nbsp, their&nbsp, history.

But, unlike so many other callow commentators, I am not shocked by this singularly sinister plan made plain publicly by Trump to engineer what amounts to his foul solution to the Palestinian&nbsp, problem.

“The US will take over the Gaza strip”, Trump said. “We will own it…you]Palestinians] just can’t go back”.

There is nothing to “go back” to since for 15 months, Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. More than 60, 000 Palestinians, mostly infants, children and women, have been killed. More than 100, 000 people have been injured – in mind, body, and spirit – often grievously.

Now, Israel is&nbsp, busy razing&nbsp, the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu and rancid company are determined to turn&nbsp, much of it&nbsp, into dust and memory, too – with the enthusiastic complicity of America’s entrenched political and media establishment.

Israel’s atrocity-excusing allies have not been bothered by that blatant disregard for the grotesque number and manner of Palestinian deaths, which is exemplified by their defining disregard for both the atrocity-excusing allies and many Israelis.

I repeatedly reiterated in&nbsp that this is the perverse end game: to ethnically remove Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank and replace them with a number of resorts along the coast.

Since 1948, that has been the only way to end things. And a succession of Democratic and Republican presidents has made it possible for Israel to realize its long-awaited goal of removing Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank for good.

It was a dream shared by the decrepit and recently departed US commander-in-chief, Joe Biden, his duplicitous Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and craven Democratic Party “elites” who feigned interest in a phantom “two-state” concoction as they rearmed Israel to the hilt and voted down – again and again – ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.

Biden and Blinken stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Netanyahu like obedient manikins while Israel vented its killing lust against largely defenseless Palestinians and Gaza was reduced to uninhabitable, dystopian-like rubble.

In&nbsp, words&nbsp, and deeds, Blinken and Biden set the egregious stage for Trump’s demented gambit. The only and instructive difference is the current Israel-adoring occupant of the Oval Office said the carefully-hidden-behind-more-agreeable-language-part out loud.

I doubt that the Israeli-is-always-above-reproach crowd that encircles CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times opinion page will recall senior Biden administration officials reaching for a dignifiable euphemism called “civilian safe passage” in negotiations to drain Gaza of Palestinians.

I doubt, as well, that the well-known cast of deferential Western writers and pundits who pin the Israeli flag on their X handles in a heinous act of solidarity will have the decency to acknowledge finally that the blatant definition of what the Israeli-American axis has done to Palestinians constitutes genocidal ethnic cleansing, not as a rhetorical cudgel but as a fact established under international law.

No matter how horrifying or outrageous it is or what it envisions, they will never, undoubtedly, depart from their unquestioned defense of Israel.

Instead, the pretend progressives&nbsp, are busy pointing a smug finger of blame at “uncommitted” voters for having refused to support failed Democrat presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.

These misguided partisans appear to have forgotten that the former vice president is equally responsible for the massacre of Palestinians and the destruction of Gaza as her scheming ex-boyfriend.

It’s best to stop these obedient amnesiacs.

Meanwhile, Trump’s ethnic-cleansing-drenched remarks have revealed that stages two and three of the so-called ceasefire agreement that set the terms for the possible reconstruction of Gaza are a cynical farce.

Bereft of even a hint of humanity, Trump and Israel’s racist cabinet will make sure that Gaza will not be rebuilt. Working together, they will guarantee that Palestinians remain exposed and vulnerable to the harsh, unforgiving elements, deprivation, disease, and want.

They know that time and the grinding, never-ending occupation are on their side.

Soon, Palestinian mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons will confront an excruciating dilemma despite their moving, dignified insistence that “we shall not be moved”.

For some, no homes, no jobs, no schools, no hospitals, no libraries, no playgrounds, will, inevitably, translate into no hope.

The only way for many Palestinians to escape Gaza and the West Bank in this terrible situation is to search for a new life with potential and promise, regrettably.

Trump’s crazy ideas have an unquestionable, insidious goal: to make Palestinians choose between staying in Gaza and letting them experience despair and hopelessness, or, reluctantly, seeking refuge in other countries, as so many others have done.

In the end, the only articles written about Trump’s obscene scheme serve as ephemeral mill grist.

Palestine’s fate and future will be resolved by Palestinians in quiet conversation amid the ruins wrought by the&nbsp, “international community” who, for generations, has condemned and abandoned them to the rabid wolves.

Sodiq Taiwo watches the children below as they play and argue in the back yard of Lagos, Nigeria, out of his bedroom window. One of their favourite games is “police and thief”, where heroes chase down supposed criminals, mouthing “pew pew” as if to shoot down the wrongdoers.

While waiting for Grand Theft Auto V (GTA) Online, a game extension that lets players play criminals online, to finish installing on his computer, Taiwo laughs at the irony.

Earlier that day, the 29-year-old digital marketer, tech-content creator and gamer was in an Uber on the way home when he stumbled upon a TikTok video by Nigerian video game streamer&nbsp, TacticalCeza. With more than 308,000 TikTok followers, Ceza has become one of Nigeria’s most popular faces in the GTA roleplaying industry as viewers watch him play the game.

Ceza plays a policeman in the Roleplay community server for “Made in Lagos” by using FiveM, a GTA mod that allows players to create or join customised multiplayer servers without altering the game’s fundamental framework.

As they re-enact the real-world encounters many young people face with the police, his character, who is wearing a Kevlar vest emblazoned with “Nigerian Police,” flags down cars and interacts with other characters while roleplaying as fraudsters or drivers.

“Park your vehicle! … Off your engine”! When a car driver pulls over to the side of the road, Cisa’s character instructs the character. “Who is the owner of this vehicle?! … What do you do for a living”?! Ceza demands as another police officer characterizes the car’s current standing driver. After seizing the driver’s cell phone, they drive him to a nearby ATM and demand that he withdraw money before finally allowing him to return to his car and drive off.

For Taiwo, sitting in the back of the Uber watching the video, the roleplay hit close to home.

In a typical roadblock situation, armed Nigerian police had flagged down the taxi he was taking less than 30 minutes earlier in the real world.

“Park! Park”! one shouted. Taiwo was too well aware of it. On previous stops, officers would ask him for a token “for water” – generally considered a euphemism for a bribe – while other times they’d delay traffic, looking for something incriminating. Before one asked Taiwo for some money so they could eat, they asked him to open his bag and search the cab on this day. “Find me something”, the police officer told Taiwo.

But later, back home at his workstation, Taiwo watches the progress bar fill on his computer screen, indicating that the GTA game is installed. The Made in Lagos server and FiveM are then used to run the game, according to Ceza’s tutorial video, which is available on YouTube. As he gets closer to entering a familiar yet surreal, virtual Lagos filled with encounters that are not too different from what he had just experienced, his curiosity grows.

The weight of satire

For the children outside Taiwo’s house, “play” opens a world bound only by their imagination, the edges of their back yard, and the watchful gaze of an older sibling.

Their “police and thief”, or cops and robbers, games are an innocent pastime. They reflect, however, a harsher reality of police harassment in cities across Nigeria, which they do not know.

During the #EndSARS protests, these lived experiences reached a climax in 2020. What began as isolated grievances against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad’s (SARS) routine profiling and abuse escalated into a nationwide movement demanding accountability, reform and dignity. Millions of people took to the streets to appease the oppressive youth of Nigeria.

However, five years on, little has changed. Between 2020 and 2024, more than 2, 000 complaints of police misconduct were made, according to reports from various government agencies in Nigeria. Three men only recently experienced a 1 million naira ($666) shakedown, which was only discovered when the officers were secretly captured on a glasses camera, which later appeared on X.

Ceza wanted to share and comment on these common struggles, so he made the decision to use gaming as a storytelling tool.

“I’ve experienced it firsthand, and so have close friends I lived with”, he tells Al Jazeera. “That’s a big part of why I’m able to tell these stories with authenticity. My perspective is also influenced by the online stories I come across.

Ceza’s success and popularity at TikTok are due to his blending of gaming and social commentary. He has carved out a niche in Nigeria by blending pop culture and gaming to amplify his comedic persona by overlaying Call of Duty streams with gameplay or reactions to current topics.

However, his rise to prominence has not been without controversy.

Viewers speculated that he had been coerced at gunpoint after noticing what appeared to be the nozzle of a gun in the frame when he apologized to the Nigerian president for laughing at his fall during the 2023 inauguration. Even though Ceza later clarified that it was his microphone, the incident highlighted the precariousness of critiquing authority in Nigeria, even through satire.

According to Ceza, “using satire] is a more entertaining way to bring up the issues with the abuse of power in the country.” “Knowing your rights isn’t enough to survive in Nigeria”.

His work seeks to educate but also reassure his audience, he says, reminding them: “What you’ve experienced, you’re not alone, and that alone gives comfort”.

Even though the popularity of gaming is on the rise in Nigeria, Ceza’s approach is singular, using the GTA roleplay as both a mirror and a megaphone to highlight the absurdities of daily injustice.

Yet, his work is not without precedent. Nigerian artists have long used their art as a form of resistance in both film and music. Rapper Falz’s Johnny and This Is Nigeria are vile indictments of police brutality, while Burna Boy’s Monsters You Made and Johnny and This Is Nigeria both feature righteous fury from the oppressed. Films like Oloture and Black November shed light on the institutional rot and reveal the state’s involvement in the suffering of its citizens.

Ceza’s work aligns with this tradition but also points to its evolution: &nbsp, as storytelling mediums evolve, so do the ways in which Nigerians resist, critique, and push for change.

Gaming as activism

Globally, video games surpass both film and music in revenue and reach. According to Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report, the gaming industry generated more than $187bn in 2024, dwarfing the global box office and music industry combined. Nigeria’s gaming scene is still young, but its rapid expansion, fueled by growing internet users and mobile gaming, indicates its growing cultural relevance.

Digital platforms have become increasingly popular as tools for activism around the world, with Roblox serving as an example of a platform for protests highlighting political issues like pro-Palestine solidarity in the Gaza war. In addition to amplifying their messages, pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and Black Lives Matter supporters have used virtual spaces to influence behavior.

In Nigeria, this medium reflects the reality of many young people, offering a space to confront real-world issues like police brutality and systemic profiling.

Joost Vervoort, a scholar specialising in how digital environments like gaming can reshape societal norms, empower communities, and challenge entrenched systems, observes, “Video games, in the case of what Ceza does, create a cultural phenomenon people can reflect on. It’s storytelling. It is playing around with communal identities”.

His research reveals how seriousness and playfulness can coexist, giving insight into why Nigerians are drawn to bring up grave issues in the manner of Ceza.

“The wisdom of deep playfulness lies in taking things less rigidly, with ironic distance and perspective. He tells Al Jazeera, “Play allows us to reject conventional interpretations and accept the absurdity and complexity of life, while imagining unending possibilities for change.”

According to Ceza, perception is shaped by the society in which it is heard: “When everyone hears a different story, I believe they have the freedom to take it as a joke or a deeper message. And I can’t force them to do that.

Vervoort explains that as TikTok viewers and gamers see a mirror of their own reality in Ceza’s work, encouraging them to put their values, identities, and interests first, creating communities that eventually help to alter societal norms.

Some people worry that the message’s gravity may be lost because humor is so heavily woven with serious issues. However, Vervoort is confident in its power to prompt change. He claims that “the space is gradually becoming a platform for cultural and political critique,” and that the impact is unlikely to be hampered by the risk of not being taken seriously.

Ceza sees its potential to reach global audiences and raise new awareness of Nigerian issues as streaming expands and gaming becomes a more effective form of activism. “It’s going to change the world and put Nigerians on the map”, he says. “It’s a new field, and I’m glad it’s growing”.

As Taiwo transitions into the role of a fraudster in GTA, he soon finds himself in a virtual world that mirrors the harassment he encounters in real life, revealing this growing power of gaming.

On-screen, Ceza, in character as a police officer, demands that Taiwo “drop something for the boys” or risk being taken to the station.

No matter how many times Taiwo tries to escape, the game’s rules – like the system he lives in – remain unchallenged, its power unyielding.

Yet for him, the game is both cathartic and communal, allowing him to unwind without having to suffer in the real world and form connections with people who are aware of the reality.

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, recently denounced South Africa’s new Expropriation Act in an all-too-familiar display of ignorance, using the false pretense that it was an attack on the white minority. His remarks, steeped in misinformation, echo the rhetoric of far-right groups that have long sought to delegitimise South Africa’s efforts to correct centuries of land dispossession.

While Trump has no business interfering with a sovereign nation’s attempt to remedy historical injustice, he is well within his rights to withhold US aid, which South Africa neither relies on nor seeks. His inflammatory comments are not just misguided, they are dangerous. South Africa, a nation that came out of the brutal apartheid system only 30 years ago, is still deeply affected by racial and economic inequality. These unresolved wounds are rooted in the land issue, and reckless statements from the US president could stoke tensions in a society that is still striving for justice.

The US itself has expropriation laws under its Fifth Amendment, which is perhaps the greatest irony of all. Land can be used for public good, with or without compensation, and that is a fundamental principle of US property law. So why does Trump feign outrage when South Africa follows suit in the same vein?

This irony pales in comparison to Trump’s remarks about “taking over” Gaza and making it “ours” after Israel’s mass destruction and genocide in Palestine. While ethnic cleansing and annexing foreign land is one thing, it is another thing to do illegally in one’s own country.

To grasp why land reform is necessary, one must confront an uncomfortable truth: South Africa’s land was stolen. From colonial conquest to apartheid-era forced removals, Black South Africans were systematically dispossessed and relegated to overcrowded, barren “homelands”. The land grabs were codified by the Land Acts of 1913 and 1936, which reserved 87 percent of the land for the Black minority and crammed the Black majority into just 13 percent of the nation.

This is not ancient history. These laws still have profound effects today. Black South Africans only own a small percentage of agricultural land, despite accounting for 80% of the population, while white landowners, who account for less than 8% of the population, continue to be in charge of the majority of it. The result? Millions of Black South Africans live in informal settlements or overcrowded townships, and about 64 percent of them still lack land.

Successive post-apartheid governments have made efforts to correct this injustice, but they have made painfully slow progress. The “willing-buyer, willing-seller” model, introduced in the 1990s, placed the financial burden on the state to buy land at market rates. This approach, while politically cautious, has failed: land redistribution targets remain unmet, and economic disparities continue to widen.

The Expropriation Act aims to change that. In some circumstances, including when land is abandoned, left over, or acquired under racial privilege, it provides a legal framework for land being expropriated. Compensation – when required – is determined by considering factors such as historical acquisition, state subsidies, and public interest. In some cases, this means land can be taken without compensation.

This is not an attack on white farmers. The millions of people who lost both dignity and economic agency need to be reclaimed.

Trump’s comments did not emerge in a vacuum. They closely resemble the narrative being promoted by white nationalist organizations in South Africa, which have long argued that land reform poses an existential threat to white landowners. The “white genocide” myth, which falsely claims that white South Africans are being systematically targeted, has been thoroughly debunked. Yet it continues to resurface in right-wing circles, amplified by figures like Trump who thrive on stoking racial grievances.

The facts tell a different story. There is no widespread campaign to seize land arbitrarily, nor is the government engaged in racial persecution. The Expropriation Act simply aligns South Africa’s land reform strategy with the foundational values of justice and equity. It does not grant the state unchecked authority.

But beyond the inaccuracy of his claims, Trump’s interference is dangerous. South Africa is still navigating its postcolonial identity, balancing reconciliation with restitution. Real progress can be derailed by foreign leaders who recklessly veer into this process, especially those who have no knowledge of the country’s history.

The fact that the US has its own expropriation laws is perhaps Trump’s most glaring contradiction in his stance. Under the conditions of “just compensation,” the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment allows the government to seize private property for public use. What constitutes “just” is often debated – just as it is in South Africa.

In fact, there are numerous instances of land seizures in the US that were much more aggressive than anything South African had proposed. Under the guise of expansionism, indigenous lands were taken without compensation. In order to promote urban development, eminent domain laws have been used to bulldoze exclusive communities, particularly poor and Black neighborhoods. Why is South Africa criticized for using expropriation for its own interests if the US does not see any contradiction in doing so?

Land seizures that have historically benefitted white populations are normalized, while Black South Africans are treated as a threat.

Beyond its historical necessity, land redistribution is crucial for South Africa’s economic future. Without land, millions of Black South Africans remain locked out of economic opportunities. The ability to farm, build homes, or access credit is directly tied to land ownership. However, the wealth of the nation is still largely concentrated in the hands of a select few in the current system.

The economic justification for land reform, which claims it will destabilize the agricultural sector or scare away investors, is a smokescreen. Countries that have successfully implemented land reform, such as South Korea and Japan, have demonstrated that redistribution, when done strategically, fosters economic growth. The real danger lies not in expropriation, but in upholding the status quo, where millions of people remain landless while a small elite hoards land.

Trump may threaten to cut US aid, but South Africa’s land policies are not up for foreign negotiation. A US president with a poor track record on racial justice cannot dictate the country’s hard-won sovereignty.

Land expropriation is not theft. It is not an attack on white South Africans. It is long overdue to bring about the justice that was done to the land, the dignity, and the economic future of Black South Africans. Trump’s remarks serve as a reminder that while the struggle for justice will always face opposition, South Africa’s legal system will not be predetermined by outsiders.

South Africans will decide South Africa’s future.

In an apparent reference to Israel’s pager attacks in Lebanon, which resulted in the deaths of numerous people, including children and Hezbollah members, the Israeli prime minister has presented Donald Trump with a golden pager to US President Donald Trump.